The Kurdish National Council announced its withdrawal from the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces (Syrian National Coalition) and the Syrian Negotiations Commission after years of membership in both.

The official spokesperson for the Kurdish National Council in Syria, Faisal Youssef, stated today, Friday, February 7, that the decision to withdraw from the Coalition was made during a meeting of the Council today in Qamishli, northern al-Hasakah.

Youssef announced in a video statement published by the Council on Facebook in Kurdish about the withdrawal from the Coalition and emphasized dialogue with the new authorities in Damascus.

He added that the Kurdish National Council is in the process of forming a joint Kurdish delegation to engage in dialogue with the Damascus government.

On his part, a member of the Leadership Office of the Kurdish National Council in Syria, Suleiman Oso, told Enab Baladi that the withdrawal decision includes both the Syrian National Coalition and the Syrian Negotiations Commission.

He added that the work of the council as a “Kurdish political framework” will continue on its path of struggle within Syria, in order to achieve “constitutional recognition of the Kurdish people and their national rights, through dialogue with the Damascus government,” according to Oso.

The spokesperson for the Kurdish National Council, Faisal Youssef, told Enab Baladi that a statement will be issued later to clarify the reasons for the withdrawal.

A delegation from the Kurdish National Council previously met with the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, in Syria, without an official announcement from the SDF.

The Rudaw news agency (based in Erbil) reported on January 28 through Faisal Youssef, the spokesperson for the Kurdish National Council in Syria, who said that the meeting “was positive.”

Youssef stated that a delegation from the leadership of the Council held a meeting with Mazloum Abdi, during which they discussed a “unified position” and agreed on “stopping the media war,” noting that officials from the International Coalition attended the meeting.

Previously, Abdullah Kaddo, a representative of the Kurdish National Council in the political body of the Syrian National Coalition, told Enab Baladi that a meeting would bring the Council and the SDF together, without precisely specifying the date.

He added that the meeting aims to “unify the Kurdish discourse regarding the national rights of Kurds in general, aiming to establish them in the country’s constitution.”

According to Kaddo, the parties agreed to hold a meeting between the leadership of the Kurdish National Council and the commander of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, mediated by American-French support.

Years of disputes

Over the years, conflicts have arisen between the SDF and the Kurdish National Council, resulting in the exclusion of the Council from any forms of governance in northeastern Syria. Military groups loyal to the SDF and its components have arrested members of the Council, and some of them remain imprisoned to this day.

The parties had previously initiated sessions known as “Kurdish-Kurdish dialogue,” represented by two main poles: the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which forms the cornerstone of the Autonomous Administration, and the Kurdish National Council, along with independents, in November 2019, to resolve disputes between the aforementioned parties.

While the US and European countries support the SDF, allied with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the opposing main party, the Kurdish National Council, receives support from Erbil and Turkey, and is a member of the Syrian National Coalition.

The dialogues focus on involving the Kurdish National Council in the administration of areas controlled by the SDF in northeastern Syria and allowing its military wing, “Peshmerga Roj,” to participate in the security and military management of areas in the Eastern Euphrates.

The main point of contention between the parties revolves around regional governance, as the SDF rejects allowing the Kurdish National Council to engage in military, political, and security management.